[damager21]

GTO & all reviewers - Your transparency and unbiased approach have been the core values which has always reflected in your reviews. This post highlights all the hard work that goes behind the scene over 2 days.

No wonder we all wait impatiently for your reviews

Proud to be a BHPian!!!

I can understand use of Innova for taking tracking shots, how was this shot taken in motion Love it!

[RavenAvi]

There is a solid reason why each and every T-BHP review is at a level M-U-C-H above the rest, and this thread shows exactly why.

So much of painstaking effort goes into each review and to cover even the minutest details, that too in such a short period of time, which is absolutely mind-boggling. And then posting the whole experience with a complete unbiased report, thinking back to the bullet points of the cars in question, choosing pictures, adding more details, etc. No wonder the official Team-BHP review of a new car is THE benchmark amongst all of them posted out there.

I am proud to proclaim to everyone in my circles that I am a Team-BHP member. Many-a-time I have referred the reviews to my nears and dears when they are in the process of finalising a car for themselves. I am really glad that through me, a TON of people in my circles now know why I regard Team-BHP so highly: to put it in the simplest of terms, i-t-'-s s-i-m-p-l-y t-h-e b-e-s-t!!

Thank you so much, team.

As always with every Team-BHP Official Review, this one also gets a full 5-star boost! Carry on the good work!

[humyum]

Originally Posted by damager21

GTO & all reviewers - Your transparency and unbiased approach have been the core values which has always reflected in your reviews. This post highlights all the hard work that goes behind the scene over 2 days.

No wonder we all wait impatiently for your reviews

Proud to be a BHPian!!!

I can understand use of Innova for taking tracking shots, how was this shot taken in motion Love it!

Hey this is a panning shot, quite easy to take. A shutter speed of 1/30 to 1/50 and you move the camera along with the direction of the moving car while its passing.

If the light is bright, ISO of 100

F - 9 to 11 because you need sharpness and not depth of field.

I usually use a wide angle lens as the camera shake is the minimum in the 10-20 Sigma that I have.

Let me give you an example of the one I have taken, nothing great in my pictures,Just to give you an idea of one of the many angles and ways you can click them. The quality is out because I had to resize the massive 12 to 15 mb files that they were

[Carpainter]

Another great write up GTO. It was a delight to read this. At some point it felt as if I'm reading the official teambhp review of how media drives work. Thanks a lot for sharing with us the background work of all these reviews. From your words we can all see the hard work that you guys put in to make a car review proper and correct. It's time taking as well as physically strain full. But at the same time it's a very rare opportunity to get your hands on the car before anyone else. It must be a special feeling specially if the car you are going to review is your personal favourite as well. Thanks once again for sharing this wonderful inside story.

[97_Octane]

Originally Posted by humyum

Hey this is a panning shot, quite easy to take...

I think what damager21 meant to ask was how that particular aerial-kind of angle was achieved

My guess is it was taken from a road on a higher elevation running parallel to the car?

BTW, those are some fantastic shots

[swapnilkarvir]

Thanks a ton! Very informative and brilliantly narrated. I actually felt like I was a part of the review team, present on location. Really appreciate how you guys carve out time from your professional/personal commitments to come up with such detailed reviews. The best part is the readability, like a book so well written, that you cannot put it down before completing.

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by GTO

Rather than manufacturer, it really depends who you can get a hold of / strike an open conversation with at the event. And even at the same event, one engineer can be a lot more forthcoming than his colleague.

By now, a lot of them are familiar faces and hence, we know who we'll get the required information from.

One also has to know what questions to ask. Requires quite a bit of homework. Is there support staff for that, or are the reviewers on their own?

Honestly, we don't have an equation with any manufacturer, whether it's for cars, bikes or CVs. Reason being we don't have a business relation with them (as we don't accept advertising for new car models, and don't do 'sponsored advertorials' in exchange for $$$).

By equation I mean is TBhp on their A List, Blacklist etc.

That said, of course, we should get around to reviewing 2-wheelers as comprehensively as we do cars.

Somehow I get the feeling that the bike manufacturers don't bother with TBhp, and vice versa! (I thought the N650 had almost made a convert of you!)

We can definitely get a V-BOX if BHPians want those stats for each car.

You'll also have to hire a track.

You bet! And we thoroughly enjoy them.

Ford

Jaguar

Tata

Hyundai

Eicher

Mercedes

Piaggio

Needs to be seen with a person who understands todays precision mass production methods. On the other hand, the manufactures would not like such a professional person to be present, NDA or not. TBhp can fill that role:- intelligent, knowledgeable non professionals. You have to extract as much from each factory visit as you do from your drives and reviews. Leave the junketing to the clueless hacks.

Regards
Sutripta

[callvvijay]

One of the best threads - and it answers many many questions that have been in my (mostly, all the BHPians) mind for a long time.

Originally Posted by GTO

• An FAQ: Nope, we don't screw on actual Team-BHP number plates on test drive cars. They are photoshopped later on.

That's a million-dollar answer. Been wondering the legality behind driving with a Team-BHP number plate and you have answered it. But, the effort you guys are putting in Photoshop-ing is just unbelievable. Hats off!

Originally Posted by GTO

Quality takes time & Team-BHP Official Reviews are normally the last to go live. Honestly, we couldn't care less. Team-BHP prefers to focus on 'quality' over 'deadline', and there's no way we can publish a review within 24 - 48 hours of driving a car (as most others do). It's impossible. We follow a fanatically structured, well-researched approach...which I trust shows in all of our official reports. A Team-BHP Official Review serves BHPians & Guests for all of the 5 - 10 years that the car is on sale. We don't understand the difference that an extra week or two makes for a benchmark review.

You couldn't care more - for the BHPians. We (talking as a mouthpiece for all the BHP-ians here as I know everyone will agree), though will be looking forward to the T-BHP official review, wouldn't mind if it is delayed because of the quality and content of the review.

There had been many instances (very recently, IIRC - Maruti Ciaz review), where reviews would have already started flowing in the internet while the BHP-ians would be eagerly waiting for the official review here. During the Ciaz episode, I, for one, didn't even bother to look at other reviews as I thought it is unnecessary to spend time in getting half-baked information when all we have to get to know is just around the corner.

Thanks Mods for all the unbiased and transparent reviews that you have been giving us!

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by damager21

I can understand use of Innova for taking tracking shots, how was this shot taken in motion Love it!

As Humyum said, this is a panning shot.

We found a place where Aditya could stand up on a hill, with a stretch of straight road below.

This is the un-cropped version:


Of course, there were about 160 variations to choose from, in order to get just the right shot with the car in focus:


cya
R

[im_srini]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

...
Of course, there were about 160 variations to choose from, in order to get just the right shot with the car in focus.
...

Wow ! Just curious - approximately how many pics are 'clicked' during a typical Media-Drive by the Team-Bhp reviewers ?

P.S. - I found the level of detail in the number-plate magic astounding
.

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by im_srini

approximately how many pics are 'clicked' during a typical Media-Drive by the Team-Bhp reviewers ?

In this case, those shots were in burst mode - so that's why there were so many.

Usually we come back with 500-700 pics on average, and then trim down to 90-120 for the final thread.

cya
R

[MuraliR]

Since there is more than one person who does the review, have you got into any differences of opinion in-between yourselves?
How do you resolve on what to report?

[nikhil0405]

Do car companies ask the reviewers for feedback on the car during the event? Have you seen any feedback given by you/others in the event been implemented by them?
I think such events are great opportunities for the OEM's to get honest feedback from enthusiasts and that too face to face.

[mzone]

Great review and great pictures too! One thing I wanna ask GTO, is the location of the spot below, I am a Goan and would love to know where this is!

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by GTO

The Smaller yet Significant Things

• Manufacturers frequently offer long-termers to us...say, a new car to drive for a year or so. We politely refuse; don't need them because we have real-world ownership reports from BHPians.

Just want to add a bit more on this based on speaking to a fellow hack

1: If one takes a long termer, the expectation is that one will report out twice a month which is as good as direct advertising

2: We will not get the realistic service levels and the actual car ownership is known and they will see us coming from a mile

3: We all have other jobs and use of these cars in connection with our day job creates a conflict of interest

4: At the end of the day, it is someone else's property and we have a duty to look after it better than our own vehicle. A crazy situation happened to a fellow hack who said a bit too much to some trucker drivers, he got thrashed and they virtually totalled the test car. i would hate to explain to a manufacturer how a car got smashed up

5: We do not borrow something nice for a holiday etc. Any car given to us is used for evaluation and returned ASAP. We even ensure we have secure parking for it